Sail Number: 8/L-4
Type: 8mR
LOA: 49′ 8″ / 15.15m – LOD: 49′ 8″ / 15.15m – LWL: 30′ 6″ / 9.30m – Beam: 8′ 3″ / 2.52m – Sail Area: 861.11 ft² / 80 m² – Displacement: 9 tons – Hull material: Wood – Designer: Gustav Estlander – Built by: Åbo Båtsvarv, Turku – Year Built: 1928 – Engine: – Current Name: Sphinx – Former name(s) – Flag: Finland – Club: ASS (Team Åbo Båtvarv) – Location: Turku
Historical:
Åbo Båtvarf – In the spring of 2019, the 8mR class yacht Sphinx, built in 1928 at Åbo Båtvarf (Turku Boatyard), joined the growing fleet of classic vessels at the Ruissalo shipyard. In early 2019, Antti Toukolehto and Joakim Håkans founded a ship-owning company named Rederi Ab Sphinx. The intention is that Sphinx will participate in regattas for classical yachts under the flag of Airisto Segelsällskap. The boat’s home port is the Ruissalo shipyard.
Although the eight-metre yachts are designed individually to a rating rule, the Turku boatyard in 1928 built three identical yachts to the same drawings by Gustaf Estlander. The length of the boats was 15.15 meters, the waterline was 9.3 meters and the width was 2.56 meters. The sail area was 80 square meters and the displacement exceeded 8 tons. The boats were built of 23.5 mm thick Honduras mahogany. The lead keel weighing approximately 5,000 kilograms was attached to the frame by 12 bronze bolts.
The three clients were experienced yachtsmen from Helsinki. Curt Mattson’s yacht was named Isabel, while Lempo II was ordered by Leuto Pajunen. The third, namely Sphinx, was built for architect Sigurd Frosterus, who reputedly paid for his order by means of his design fee for the Stockmann department store.
In her first years, Sphinx actively competed in Finland and Sweden. In 1940, however, Frosterus had to give up his yacht due to illness. The new owner Åke af Forselles continued to compete with Sphinx, winning the important Sinebrychoff trophy on two occasions. The next time Sphinx changed ownership was in 1967, when Kari Toukolahti took over. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sphinx was one of the few classical yachts still kept in racing mode, unlike many other vintage yachts that were adapted for added comfort while cruising.
From 1988 onwards, Kari Toukolehto’s son Antti continued as skipper of the boat. At the end of the 1990s, the boat underwent a complete renovation, including the replacement of all frames, the bottom planking and most of the topsides. The boat was also updated with a modern aluminium rig. The renovation continued according to plan during the 2000s, when the deck beams and the decking were renewed.
Sphinx has always been one of the most active boats in its class in Finland. In the 21st century, it has participated in the World Cup nine times, at venues such as Switzerland, Denmark and France. Often the yacht has been sailed on its own keel to the competition venue. Sphinx, who has presently returned to the Turku boatyard, has played an important role in the recovery of classic boat racing, thus supporting the rise of Finland to one of the top nations of classic boat sailing in Europe.
Second International Rule 1919-1933
International 8 Metre Association – As early as 1914, forums were held to find solutions to secure the future of the Rule but before anything could happen, priorities changed as the Great War intervened. In between 1917 and 1919 the Yacht Racing Union headed by Heckstall-Smith worked on developing the formula to something that would produce more wholesome yachts. This would result in the most radical change in the history of the rule as the beam would be discarded from the formula and replaced by a minimum of one foot per metre rating. (A pretty unique combination of the metric and imperial measurement systems as the minimum beam for an 8-Metre would be 8 feet, a 12-Metre, 12ft and so on.) Girth penalties were raised significantly and sail area was penalised much more severely. As the rule was young and only few boats had been built, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp competed in two groups, the old and the new rule boats. The development in the first four years was again frantic with ideas tested to the extreme. The 1924 Olympics in Le Havre displayed the earliest wholesome 8-Metres the most successful being, Bera by Johan Anker, Emily by William Fife and BlueRed by Charles Nicholson. The shapes developed further with more emphasis on length and less on sail area with more draft and displacement to the shapes of the famous Aile VI and Hollandia who were the best boats at the 1928 Olympics. Naval architects now seeked their advantage in the extreme ends as boats were stretched to gain sail area by reducing bow and stern girth measurements. The rigs developed, mast scantlings were developed and the maximum hoist of the jib was fixed at 82.5% of rig height. In 1927 the overlapping genoa was introduced taking full advantage of the unmeasured thus free headsail area aft of the mast. The rule was good and produced exceedingly fine boats and enjoyed tremendous popularity. The only agreed serious flaw remaining was the 1/4G measurement which resulted in insufficient keel depth and tender boats. Johan Anker’s Silja and William Fife’s Saskia are the best examples of how that was addressed by designing boats with more beam thus adding more form stability. In 1928 North America finally accepted the International Rule for the small classes, i.e. 6, 8, 12-Metres while Europe adopted the Universal Rule J-Class for the largest of all classes.
Despite the great success of the Rule it was still felt that improvements could be made and at it’s expiration in 1933 this was addressed.
Restoration
The refurbishment was done by M-Yachts Loviisassa. Nine lower ribs were replaced. With the exception of the stern and the bow, the oak frames were also replaced. The steel frames were removed and rebuilt. All old repairs were demolished and new ones replaced. Over time, for example, new frames had been made to replace broken ones.
The renovation of Sphinx was based on the criterion of repairing the boat in the same way as before. Non-glued seams were not glued. Bronze was used where it was bronze and galvanized where it was galvanized. Material thicknesses are the same as in the original boat. Nothing was compromised.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner/Guardian: (1928-1940) – Sigurd Frosterus,
Owner/Guardian: (1940-1967) – Åke af Forselles
Owner/Guardian: (1967) – Kari Toukolahti
Owner/Guardian: (2019) – Rederi Ab Sphinx (Antti Toukolehto, Joakim Håkans)
Helm: Yngve Pacius
Helm: Gustav Estlander
Resources
International 8 Metre Association
8mR s/y Sphinx
Puuvene .fi/
Åbo Båtvarf (Ruissalon Telakka)